Grace Lutheran book group

We are based at Grace Lutheran Church in Evanston and are a mixed-gender group.

We laugh a lot. When we were deciding whether to read "Loving Frank" (referring to architect Frank Lloyd Wright) by Nancy Horan, one man said, "I never did like Frank Sinatra."

One guy finished reading the book in the bathroom of the host.

Books we loved: "Out Stealing Horses" by Per Petterson, "Olive Kitteridge" by Elizabeth Strout, "Atonement" by Ian McEwan, "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell, "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd, and "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger.

"Olive Kitteridge" was a favorite because Olive was awful and insensitive, like people we know in our own lives, yet she was also capable of great empathy.

We'd like to meet Petterson or Strout to ask how their characters come to life in their minds. Do they develop fully before the craft of writing begins, or do they take on a life of their own once the story is in process?

Up next: "Still Alice" by Lisa Genova.

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